Ehrlich's early-voting conundrum

Maryland will begin voting early for the first time in state history Friday, and Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to remind eager voters what his Republican opponent did to block the increasingly popular process when he was governor.

Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, who is looking to reclaim the job he lost to O’Malley, vigorously fought early voting in 2006, vetoing the measure as chief executive and calling it “an invitation to greater voter fraud in the state.” But four years, a voter-approved constitutional amendment and a new governor’s signature later, Maryland is set to join the more than 30 states that allow voters to cast their ballots prior to Election Day.

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And now Ehrlich, who also has a primary to get through in two weeks, has adopted a new philosophy: If you can’t beat them, join them.

Ehrlich, who was Maryland’s first Republican governor since the 1960s, has cut a Web video encouraging his supporters to participate in early voting while acknowledging his opposition to the practice.

“I’ve been critical of early voting, and I believe it’s a solution in search of a problem, but it is the law in the state of Maryland. And we’re going to live with it, and we’re going to take advantage of it,” Ehrlich says in the video.

O’Malley, who signed the measure into law last year, is holding an event with the Legislative Black Caucus on Tuesday to promote early voting. On Thursday, his campaign plans to highlight Ehrlich’s past opposition to the measure immediately after a bipartisan event between the Republican and Democratic state parties designed to encourage voters to take advantage of the process.

“Bob Ehrlich has a history of using dirty tricks to suppress voter turnout for his own political gain — particularly in heavily African-American areas — so it's no surprise that Ehrlich would oppose common-sense efforts to encourage Marylanders of all backgrounds to vote. Ehrlich is even at odds with his own Republican Party on this issue, so you can imagine how out of touch he is with everyday Marylanders,” said O’Malley campaign spokesman Mark Giangreco.

Ehrlich’s campaign said the former governor still has reservations about the process because the Legislature rushed to pass the measure “without adequately studying it or providing an implementation plan to the state Board of Elections.” One of his main concerns centered on the difficulty of staffing precincts with an adequate number of qualified poll workers and judges necessary to serve voters, according to spokesman Andy Barth.

“Despite those reservations, we now have early voting. Gov. Ehrlich encourages all voters to put the current excitement and enthusiasm for change into practice, by taking advantage of any opportunity to vote, including early voting, if that is most convenient for them,” said Barth.

Barth said Democratic control of the Legislature would make any changes to the current law unlikely, even if Ehrlich wins. “Bob’s main focus will be on creating jobs, lowering taxes and fixing the budget,” he said.

Brian Murphy, a Bethesda resident taking on Ehrlich in the GOP primary from the right, said his challenge may be the reason the former governor is embracing early voting. Murphy has been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

“Ehrlich knows what we know: The momentum for the Brian Murphy campaign is gaining steam and turning in our favor, and that’s why he is pushing early voting. Now that he stands a chance of losing, he has switched his position and is doing everything with the cooperation of the RNC to suppress the will of the people,” Murphy said in a statement to POLITICO.